This invention relates to a carpenter's tool, and more particularly to a clamping device which aids a carpenter in applying weather boards or siding to a building.
The basic principle underlying a weather boarding clamping device is that a board already nailed to a building may be used to support a new board ready to be nailed in place above it, and so on.
Several different types of weather board clamping devices used to aid a carpenter in applying weather boards or siding to a building while maintaining a preferred board overlap dimension for the boards are known. For example, each of the following prior art patents generally discloses a relatively rigid device which is clamped to or abuts the bottom and/or lower sides of a board already nailed to a building.
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issued ______________________________________ 221,732 Hobbs 11/18/1879 216,252 Allison 6/10/1879 285,137 Kennedy 9/18/1883 418,754 Schill 1/7/1890 631,315 Meskill 8/22/1899 774,114 Spear 11/1/1904 1,598,986 Ping 9/7/1926 4,155,175 Stiles 5/22/1979 ______________________________________
Alternatively, relatively recent U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,799, issued to Frantello, discloses a non-adjustable, one-piece clamp for installing weather boards, which "hooks" the top and both upper sides of the board already in place and supports the bottom and lower sides of a new board ready to be nailed. The Frantello device comprises a pair of joined J-shaped members, with one inverted relative to the other. Removing the Frantello device after nailing the new board apparently requires the device to be moved to the end of the board, because the part of the clamp abutting the bottom of the newly nailed board prevents upward movement of the clamp for removal. Of course, moving the device to the end of the board is time consuming for the carpenter.
An "adjustable" clamp with a type of "hook" attached to a board already nailed in place is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 368,574, issued to Eby. The Eby '574 patent teaches a weather board clamp employing an "L"-shaped slidable member connected to a hook-shaped member by an adjustable wing nut and screw. The hook-shaped member, apparently, is intended either to be "spiked" into the top of the board already in place or to be extended over the top and both sides of the board already in place. The "L"-shaped slidable member is intended to abut the bottom and outer side of a board ready to be nailed. The clamp, once in place, allows a board to be supported while it is being fitted into position to determine where the board should be cut. This clamp avoided the practice common at the time this invention was made of temporarily nailing the board to the building while measuring it. Once the correct length is found and the board is cut, the board is apparently hand-held by several carpenters and nailed in place.
As with the Frantello device, since the Eby clamp's "L"-shaped member abuts the bottom of the newly secured board, upward removal of the clamp is made difficult. Thus, the device must be moved to the end of the board and slipped off for removal. Alternatively, the clamp could be removed by disassembling the clamp so that the "L"-shaped slidable member could be moved away from the bottom of the newly secured board and thus, the hook-shaped member could be moved upwardly off of the first secured board. However, either alternative consumes time, is awkward and is generally inefficient.
Although the prior art described above eliminates some of the problems experienced by carpenters installing weather boards, the prior art still does not teach a weather boarding device capable of enabling a single carpenter to quickly and easily install the boards onto the building, while maintaining accurate board overlap dimensions set by the carpenter, which, of course, saves time and money.